Picture an emerald expanse of lawn, rippling white shade umbrellas, waves breaking along an empty beach, and then imagine being surrounded by purple hydrangea, pink rhododendron, sea rose and daisy, and you have the perfect excuse to travel to Newport for a picnic. After months in lockdown and now with the ability to drive a couple hours south, you have an excuse for a getaway, and this time to a Grand Dame – the Chanler at Cliff Walk – which is, yes, at the famed Cliff Walk.

This Gilded-age “cottage,” with its manicured gardens and cliff-side setting overlooking Easton’s Beach, is like walking back into 19th Century history. Built by John Winthrop Chanler in 1870 for his wife, Margaret, the great granddaughter of John Jacob Astor, the Chanlers hosted Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as house guests in their Victorian-styled rooms. Inside the main hall, with its parquet flooring, crystal chandeliers, and antique stained glass, it feels strange to be coming for a picnic lunch on the lawn in a sundress.

The Cliff Lawn and Meadow Lawn are open sporadically for outdoor “picnic-style” dining a couple of times during the summer season: Father’s Day, Memorial Day, and other “open” days upon reservation. Even though I brought a blanket for the lawns, I decide to sit in one of the Adirondack chairs covered with a white umbrella as my dining perch. I elegantly chow on a turkey sandwich of brie, watercress, and apple, accompanied by kettle chips, a Mediterranean pasta salad, and save the dessert of passionfruit panna cotta for later. Deciding on a whim to stay at the inn mid-week, I grab one of the complimentary Tokyobikes for a spin around town. Sporting a stylish biking helmet, wearing a cloth mask, and carrying a beach towel in my wicker cycling basket, I zip past the back roads from the inn and out along the coast to spy on the other “cottages” along the Cliff Walk. The crowds are sparse, which makes for easy traveling along Belleview Avenue, with gorgeous views of the Atlantic, the Marble House, the Breakers, and Salve Regina, all mixed with pocket coves and cliffside perches.

I make a stop at Easton’s Beach and jump into the chilled sea. Along the empty beach, there’s room for social distancing, with seagulls careening overhead and waves spilling against sand. The sun is warm on my face and it feels good to breathe deeply.

Back at the Chanler, I order a take-out dinner from the Cara Restaurant, and sit on my white-washed porch. In an eave, I watch a starling feed her baby birds in a nest above my head. Back and forth she flies, into flowering bushes and along the manicured lawns. The Starlings join me as dining companions as I start with charred summer squashes with farro, parmesan, and olive, and then continue to a main course of Bucatini pasta with corn, sun-gold tomatoes, and the most delicious local mushrooms. For dessert, I choose artisan cheeses with seasonal fruit, honey, and breads, and enjoy a glass of Alto Adige pinot grigio.

The Terrace Room is something you want to escape to and never leave. With double-sanitized white linens, bedding, and towels, and limited/no housekeeping while in-house, there is a sense of relaxation as you sink in a soaking tub and then hang around the plush room in a bathrobe and slippers. Out on the porch that night, with the sound of crickets along the lawn, and fireflies lighting up sea rose, I toast to the beginning of summer and an end to a deep, long spring spent indoors.

The next morning, after fresh fruit and yogurt, and a large pot of coffee, I spend the morning on the beach again, and then make my way home along highways without summer traffic.

The Chanler at Cliff Walk is located at 117 Memorial Blvd. in Newport, Rhode Island. For additional information, visit www.thechanler.com or call 401-847-1300. Ask for the mid-week Bed and Breakfast rate.

Newsletter